TownSmith is a suite of Internet software that allows rapid deployment of community and commerce Web sites. The modular system is designed to share some common components while allowing the customer to select which modules to utilize.

For a fuller explanation of the concept of community and community/commerce Web sites, explore our "Community Model" page and our "White Papers" section.

Currently, TownSmith consists of six modules, four for community functionality and two for commerce functionality. The community modules are Web Templates, Messaging, Surveys and Results, and Calendars and Events. The "commerce" modules are TownSmith Catalog and TownSmith Basket. It should be noted, however, that these final two modules can be used in applications other than e-commerce. (TownSmith Catalog, for example is being used at www.gotoschool.org to catalog and enable searching capabilities of hundreds of public and private schools—clearly not an e-commerce function.)

The community modules of TownSmith are all engineered to increase a site's traffic. The aim is to attract new users, retain users longer, and get users to return.

TownSmith Web Templates retains users by giving them a facility to create their own Web pages or sites with no requirement for technical understanding. The module tends to attract new users when established users invite their friends and family to your site to view the pages they've created. It brings users back every time they want to edit or add to their pages.

TownSmith Messaging attracts new users by giving them a forum to participate in fully-threaded, topical, online discussions. It retains users by allowing them to post new messages, create new boards and reply to existing messages. It encourages users to return by notifying them via e-mail any time another user responds to a message they posted or to any message or discussion the user requests notification on. The notification e-mail sent provides a link back to the site where they can read the new postings.

TownSmith Surveys and Results attracts new users by creating dynamic surveys on topics of interest. It retains users by encouraging them to participate in surveys, and it encourages respondents to return by notifying them when final results have been posted on the site.

TownSmith Calendars and Events attracts new surfers by providing any number of interest area-related events calendars. It retains users by allowing them to add events or otherwise manipulate calendars. Calendars and Events encourages users to return by sending them e-mail reminders of upcoming events and of the posting of calendars for consecutive weeks or months.

The concept is to attract a community of users that have a shared area of interest. TownSmith Catalog can then be used to create and maintain a catalog of products or services that will appeal to that community. Catalog can also be used to enable the community to do criteria searches of the items in the catalog.

TownSmith Basket offers all the functionality that might be needed to enable users to select catalog items as they browse through the site. These items can then be manipulated later (this manipulation could be a checkout or some other process).

The TownSmith modules are all frameworks, so clients can code their own functionality as well as select among our existing functional options. TownSmith can be integrated to work with most existing or new databases if necessary. The integration process also allows the client to use the software with their own identity and design.

TownSmith is highly scalable, fast, and deployable on a wide variety of platforms. For a better description of the technological requirements and capabilities of TownSmith, please visit our "Technology Foundations" page and the sections for the individual modules.

TownSmith—don't just bring users to your web site...bring them back.